“It seems as if Wayne hadn’t made much progress on his movie projects.” Alden tried to be tactful. “Craig told us Wayne had something lined up at Netflix. In fact, my source there says no adaptations of your books are in the works.”
“And are you sure your source is correct?” Enolia sounded smug. “I’ve been talking with one of their content executives. Reynold Casper. He’s very excited.”
“Reynold Casper … he’s a friend of Wayne’s,” Alden said. “He works as a tour guide at Disneyland.”
Enolia’s smile faltered. Then she swallowed. “Perhaps that’s his second job.” Even she didn’t sound convinced. “Go get Craig for me. He talked to him too. He can show you the books and the correspondence. I’m sure it’s all there.”
Oh, this was going to hurt. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see his favorite author’s reaction when she saw the truth.
“Where’s Craig?” Roz asked.
“In his apartment above the garage,” Enolia said.
“What’s in the garage?” Alden asked. Roz shot him a funny look, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Cars, you mean? My baby-blue 1968 Mercedes convertible, for one. I love that car. But for more practical driving, there’s the Bentley.”
That was the practical car? Alden almost wept.
“And there’s the Toyota I bought for Craig,” Enolia continued. “Upstairs in the apartment, there’s a storage room with all my business archives as well. Craig looks after them. I don’t like them around me in my office. It hurts my creativity if I think too much about money.”
Spoken like someone who had a lot of it. Alden glanced at Roz.
“We’ll take a look and sort this all out,” Roz said, but her eyes told him she didn’t believe her comforting words.
The author seemed genuinely clueless about Wayne’s scam. If so, why did she yell at him in the alley behind Big Bang Books?
He’d ask that question when he got back. In the meantime, they were about to get some real juice for the story.
“I’ll get Craig.” Alden headed for the door. “I’ll be right back.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Roz endured the awkward silence for about twenty seconds before falling into her own trap. Stay quiet long enough, and your subject wants to fill the silence. In her case, she was bursting with questions.
“How much did Wayne tell you about his business dealings?” Roz asked Enolia.
“He told me what I needed to know. His lawyer was kind enough to draw up the papers I signed that gave Wayne the resources he needed to shop around my books.”
Wayne’s “kind” lawyer. The same one who set up the sham escrow account with Sebastian Esquivel?
“So if you’re confident in the movie deal he was pursuing?—”
“I am,” Enolia said.
“What were you and Wayne arguing about in the alley before your book signing?”
Enolia sucked in a breath. Paused. “Who told you that?”
“You were seen. What was the fight about?” Roz shifted slightly so she could leap out of the way in case Enolia turned on her. After all, she might still be a crazed killer and could lash out, since she was cornered.
Roz belatedly realized she should’ve just waited for Alden to come back before confronting Enolia about Wayne.
Enolia’s look of shock melted into something calm and crafty. “Tell me, what would you do if you found Alden in bed with another woman?”
“What?” Roz exclaimed.
“You’re together, aren’t you?”
